Gondor is a vast land, beyond the kingdoms of Minas Tirith and Osgilliath that audiences see in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations. There are many colonies across the wide spaces of Gondor, and many towns, villages and peoples. Warriors are called from every nation of Gondor’s lands to come anddefend the White City from the trollsand orcs who besiege it, but it takes many men, both friends and strangers alike to stave off the attack.
One group of people who are essential in saving the gleaming towers of Minas Tirith from utter ruin are the Woses, wild folk who live in the untrodden paths Gondor, long forgotten by even the most esteemed members of society. Whenthe Red Arrow of Gondoris sent out to call for aid, it is received by the Riders of Rohan who camp nearby. Theoden and Eomer meet with the messenger of Denethor the Steward, who begs them to come as soon as they are able.
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But the orcs of Mordor have built trenches all around the city, and theFell Beasts wheel in the sky above, making it impossible for the riders to ride across to Minas Tirith’s aid. They fear that by the time they have found a way around the battlements of the enemy, the city will have fallen, the people will be slaughtered or worse, and there will be nothing to defend but rubble. Then, their salvation appears out of the surrounding trees, in the middle of the night, in the form of Ghan-buri-Ghan.
Merry, who is traveling with the ridersof Rohan in the service of king Theoden, describes him as ‘a strange squat shape of a man, gnarled as an old stone, and the hairs of his scanty beard straggled on his lumpy chin like dry moss.’ In such a way, it appears that the Woses are somehow a part of the earth, and have lived in harmony for so long that they have all but amalgamated with it, becoming a half-human, half- creature of the land.
Although they still speak the Common Tongue, they infuse it with a language of their own, and it adds to their mysticism and their unusual timelessness within the world. Ghan-buri-Ghan himself says “Wild Men have long ears and long eyes; know all paths. Wild Men live here before Stone houses; before Tall Men come up out of the Water.” By this he obviously means that this people have been around for generations, since before the Numenorians of Westernesse came and built the city of Gondor.
And this makes them interestingly and uniquely qualified to solve Rohan’s predicament. For the Wild Men are so linked with nature that they can feel things from within the earth, and smell things from the air that are of great service in helping the riders avoid the enemy, and find another way around their battlements into Minas Tirith. They can tell when the sun rises, even amidst the dark pervading cloud that has blocked out the light from everyone else’s eyes, and can help the Rohirrim to keep track of the days and try to make it Gondor before the White City falls. In exchange for their help, Theoden offers them both friendship and rich rewards, but the Wild Men want nothing more than to be left alone in peace within their lands, never to behunted by orcsor disturbed by Men again.
Once they have shown the Riders of Rohan the hidden paths through the Rimmon hills and back out the other side to a road where they can spring upon the orcs unnoticed, the Woses retreat back into the woods, waiting for the Rohirrim to keep their word and rid the land of filthy orcs. They disappear so successfully into the trees that they are never seen by any Rohan warriors again.
However, when the war has been won, andAragorn has claimed his throne, he travels out into the lands, along withthe Grey Company, to see what damage has been done, and start to repair the heinous acts of the dark lord. As they approach the woodland, they hear a deep, earthly sound like the beating of drums, and although none of the Woses can be spotted, for their camouflage is beyond the eyes of mortals, Aragorn knows that it is them, demanding recompense for their part. So he proclaims “King Elessar is come! The Forest of Druadan he gives to Ghan-buri-Ghan and his folk, to be their own forever; and hereafter let no man enter it without their leave!” Thus, a treaty is made, and the Wild Men are allowed to go on living in peace, fusing with the land for many more thousands of years.
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